Below you will find access to sexual content for this story that was not suitable to be posted on FFN during the purge in 2012. These sections have since been re-added, but I've kept them available here, just in case.

I wasn't sure I would pull it off, but it's DONE. My entry for the sshg_giftfest is finally written, betaed, HTML coded, and off to the mods!!! *collapses*

I really wish I could have expanded the prompt a great deal more than I did, but with basically only a month to complete it (and a very slow-typing muse), I'm happy with what I created. Hopefully my giftee will like it as well. *fingers crossed*

Current Mood: Feeling like I won't be able to deliver on my SSHG Gift Fest entry. Why do I torture myself by continuing to enter fests where the writers involved are utterly brilliant and I'll never measure up to their amazing standards and am just kidding myself for trying?

Solution: Avoid working on fest entry altogether and pretend I have another two months to come up with something halfway decent.

Just heard the news about Monty Python member Terry Jones's dementia diagnosis. I'm completely gutted. Obviously, I don't know the guy, but I'm still trying not to start crying in my office.

Monty Python saved me in my teens. It also saved me in college. And it saves me from crippling bouts of depression now. No matter how hard of a day I've had, I can go home, watch a couple Flying Circus episodes or a Monty Python film, and get utterly lost in their genius form of satire. I can momentarily forget my sadness, and I'm so grateful for that.

Terry Jones is a brilliant, brilliant writer. For someone of such rhetorical talent to be crippled by an aggressive form of dementia that incapacitates his ability to communicate is horrific and cruel. It makes me sick to my stomach.

Please tell me I'm not the only one who hasn't rushed to get started on their SSHG Gift Fest entry? *gulps at crickets chirping*

I'm thrilled and inspired by the prompt I've chosen to go with, but something I realized almost immediately when it spoke to me was that I won't be able to make a one-shot out of it, something I was set on doing from the get-go when I (reluctantly) signed up. *sigh* I just hope I can deliver it in no more than three or four chapters. I don't know yet if that's feasible or not, but I'm praying I can...

More importantly, however, I sincerely hope my giftee will enjoy it. She's a wonderful and talented writer in her own right, so there's understandably a lot of pleasure to get it right. I'm worried I can't deliever. *crawls back into hole and avoids getting started*

I've been feeling tired, depleted, and burnt out the past few weeks, personally and creatively. As such, I haven't written much of anything over the month of September. I'm not feeling much improved (yet), but I know these things take time. I'm doing all the usual physical and mental exercises to get myself back on track, so hopefully they will kick in soon. I miss my outlet, but I've learned not to push it.

Despite how my mind and muse seem to be cautioning me to take a time out, I've been debating about signing up for the SSHG Gift Fest this year, as I skipped out on it last round. It feels like an opportunity to possibly (well, hopefully!) redeem myself creatively for a new prompter/gifter. I do wonder if I could produce anything of quality that my gifter would really like, though. I know that's always a worry when partaking in these fests and I'd hate to repeat that disappointment again for someone else, and yet, this could be a chance to potentially do something better...if it pans out. And that's a big IF.

I'm going to mull it over some more and try to make a decision before the deadline. My muse hasn't really been speaking to me or pushing me in either direction (not helpful! Lol), so we'll see. I wish everyone luck who has chosen to participate, though, and I'm sure I'll have more exciting art and stories to catch up on in the coming months. (I'm still behind on the SSHG Promptfest but I'll get there).

Some shippers enjoyed it, and that makes me happy (and equal parts relieved!). I had the most fun writing this prompt, even if the subject matter it's based on was a little nerve-wracking to undertake. I adore SoM; it's one of my favourites from childhood. Hopefully my own wizarding version did the prompt justice!

I hope to post it to my FFN account soon, if anyone would like to read it there. And, in the interim, I have a host of other SSHG entries to catch up on...

So, I was so exited that mywitch had some Snape buttons left to spare and I anticipated maybe 3-5 of 'em. When the mail arrived, I couldn't have been more overjoyed. (I may have spent a lot of time squealing like a little girl).

Thank you so, so, so much to the amazingly talented and kind mywitch! I will treasure these as they deserve. :)))))